The invention pertains to the art of ink-jet printers and, more particularly, to an ink cartridge and a print head for receiving the ink cartridge of an ink-jet printer.
An example of a removable ink cartridge for a print head of an ink-jet printer is described in EP-A-560 729. This ink cartridge has a housing with an opening in one wall of the housing in order to slip the cartridge onto a tubular stub of the print head. A packing ring for sealing is placed on an end of the tubular stub. The sealing ring abuts against a shoulder formed on a cylindrical outer surface of the opening and against the cylindrical outer surface of the opening. On opposing side walls of the cartridge and the print head are engaging members. In particular, the cartridge has spherical cap-shaped protrusions which engage with mating recesses in the side walls of the print head.
Another example of an ink-jet printer cartridge is shown in EP-A-635 373. This print head also has a tubular stub around which is placed an O-ring for radial sealing between a cylindrical opening of the cartridge and a tubular stub of the print head. A fibrous ink inducing element is inserted in a casing connected to the cylindrical opening of the cartridge.
Both of the above-described cartridges have the drawback that narrow tolerances must be observed for both the position of the tubular stub of the print head as well as for the position of the opening of the cartridge.